Should I Be Relieved or Concerned?

While undigging from the vacation backlog, I peaked into a BaseCamp account I’m using for a handful of projects and received this message: Uh. Um. Well. Guess I’ll just toss that To Do list into the trash and head for the beach. On a related note – while going for my daily walk last Thursday …

5 Tips on International Travel with Toddlers

Here are a few things I thought I’d share with you on traveling internationally with toddlers. Backpacks are better than strollers.It’s far easier to get through airports, old European cities, and tour castles with Little C strapped to my back than in a terrain-sensitive stroller. As ill-fitting as our current Kelty is, I couldn’t imagine …

Mussels in Brussels: Friture René

Visiting Belgium and not enjoying a big pot of mussels just isn’t worth the jet lag. So, last night, Jen and I walked down the street from our hosts’ house for dinner at Friture René a small, traditional, steak, mussels, and fries place. Yes, that’s all they serve: steak and mussels. Maybe 5 or 6 …

Sinterklaas en Zwarte Piet

Yesterday, we celebrated St. Nicolas Day. Five kids (15 months to 7 yrs) loaded up on chocolate, gingerbread, and taai-taai while awaiting the odd, rumbling noises (well-time washing machine) indicating Sinterklaas and his mischievous helpers, the Zwarte Piet, left presents somewhere in the house. Instead of chocolate, Cooper finished off the carrot we left for …

Initial Thoughts on the Rojas-Winer-Calacanis Podcast Device

I’ve been pondering the dedicated podcast devices tossed around by Rojas-Winer-Calacanis. The power and simplicity of it are quite attractive. I’m on board with the following: Data Input/Output: Wifi. No need for anything else. Supported Media Formats: MP3, Ogg Vorbis, anything else open & cheap. Pre-selling a small initial run as financing. As an interface …

What’s Your Traveller Risk Score?

“It’s probably the most invasive system the government has yet deployed in terms of the number of people affected” – David Sobel, EFF lawyer. Like all these systems, we are all judged in secret, by a computer algorithm, with no way to see or even challenge our score. Kafka would be proud. – Bruce Schneier